Raymond Clayborn, Ty Law, Bill Parcells selected as 2014 Patriots Hall of Fame finalists

I voted for Law 10 times and for Ray Clay 8 times. It's the best compromise I could make. Both deserve it.

Parcells...clearly his candidacy must have been pushed by Borges. Why people would support his candidacy is beyond me. One could argue that even Asante Samuel left on better terms.

Ray Clay was the only guy that did not shoot his way out of town and the only one where that would have been entirely justified.
He was traded and no stories about him calling the Jets or needing to feed his family surfaced.

InRodWeRust said:

WWWwwwhhhhhaaaaaaaaattt??? You're username is RayClay and you're still not voting for Raymond Clayborn? Poor Raymond has no shot if even YOU don't vote for him

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On the same team, Clayborn was much more a Hall of Fame player than Sam Cunningham who was a good, not exceptional big runner who had the benefit of playing behind Hannah his whole career and had a catchy nick name.

Antwine's omission is a disgrace, plain and simple.

Since we have an apples to apples comparison, I always liked Clayborn better than Haynes, but had to reluctantly admit Haynes was the best. Besides that

Clayborn and Law were 2b and 2b and should both easily be in there, but given the bias of these popularity contest, somebody newer or in the skill positions will force out deserving defensive, and other, players.

Having to choose, I'd give Law the tip based on his ball hawking ability. Clayborn never went after an interception, he got a lot from always being in position and playing a long time.

Clayborn is still my favorite because of his toughness and persistence. Law, was tough too, but Clayborn was an ornery son of a ***** who would lock his man down on the last play of a blowout win as if it was the decisive play.

I'm not a cheerleader for one player, but I don't mind pointing out the inherent bias toward skill players in these American Idol votes. Jim Nance shouldn't be in there either. I was excited as hell his MVP year, it was my era, he had one more outstanding year, then was an out of shape mess the rest of his career. Sorry. We had one Hall of Fame running back and his HOF years were mostly in Cincinnati.

Antwine, Clayborn and Law brought it year after year and should all be in without a second thought.

Backin the Nance days Pats had summer camp at Phillips Andover Academy. You could literally mingle with players. Nance looked like a round ball and would have on this big rubber suit supposedly to help him sweat and lose weight. Seems to me the weight you'd lose was easily replaced water weight but hey, it was the 60s.
Guy died "young" of heart complications from high blood pressure and coronary disease a fate of many blacks. Adopt a healthy post career weight & lifestyle and take your meds bros!

PatsWickedPissah said:

Backin the Nance days Pats had summer camp at Phillips Andover Academy. You could literally mingle with players. Nance looked like a round ball and would have on this big rubber suit supposedly to help him sweat and lose weight. Seems to me the weight you'd lose was easily replaced water weight but hey, it was the 60s.
Guy died "young" of heart complications from high blood pressure and coronary disease a fate of many blacks. Adopt a healthy post career weight & lifestyle and take your meds bros!

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Yeah, it was sad. Had he stayed in shape he could have been a top back in a much more run oriented time. Still, he was great to watch in an era where management problems were heading the team right off the cliff. They fielded a damn good team up to that point, strong in the trenches and otherwise.

Of course, the "black power" defense days were still to come.

PatsWickedPissah said:

Backin the Nance days Pats had summer camp at Phillips Andover Academy. You could literally mingle with players. Nance looked like a round ball and would have on this big rubber suit supposedly to help him sweat and lose weight. Seems to me the weight you'd lose was easily replaced water weight but hey, it was the 60s.
Guy died "young" of heart complications from high blood pressure and coronary disease a fate of many blacks. Adopt a healthy post career weight & lifestyle and take your meds bros!

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I remember a year or two after his big years remarking that he bounced off his linemen instead of breaking through holes. He looked like he had one of those inflatable sumo suits on.

RC has it right. Houston, Clayborn, AND Law all belong in the Pats HOF. However the reason I'm voting for Clayborn is a pragmatic one. Law will eventually get in. If not this year then the next. However Clayborn's voter base is shrinking every year. Pretty soon there will be another face of the last decade to put in. Give Clayborn his due NOW and we'll make it up to Ty next year. Besides a little more humbling for Ty would probably be a good thing.

There should be something to be said that Ray stayed until he was told to go. Both Law and Parcell's followed the dollar and their egos out of town.

patfanken said:

I can't believe those media pukes and toadies nominated the self absorbed, sleazeball former HC..... AGAIN. This over rated jerk only had a 4 year tenure with the Pats, of which only 2 were winning seasons.

Parcells had only 2 great skills as a HC. He was great at ingratiating himself to the media, and he was great at surrounding himself with great assistant coaches. And while we could say he was a great builder of teams, he was a damned poor "maintainer" of franchises.

The last memory that EVERY Pats fans should have of Bolting Bill, is when he abandoned his team after the superbowl and rode off to his next job. And before any of us who might fall for the hype. don't forget that while he SHOULD have been putting all of his efforts in preparing for the Packers, he was instead spending time in negotiations with the Jets. Yes, before the superbowl even started, Puke Parcells was on the phone with the Jets, and the phone records confirmed it. And THIS is the guy you want to honor in the Pats HOF?????

If Parcells ever makes it into the Pats HOF, I will be enormously ashamed of this fan base. The thought of this smug, disloyal, asshat getting a day of honor from the team he literally shat on would be a travesty. Do you REALLY think a 32-32 record should get you into a team's HOF. .

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Surrounding himself with Belichick more like, without Belichick on his staff he didn't win a single Super Bowl, Conference Championship or even Division Title

patfanken said:

RC has it right. Houston, Clayborn, AND Law all belong in the Pats HOF. However the reason I'm voting for Clayborn is a pragmatic one. Law will eventually get in. If not this year then the next. However Clayborn's voter base is shrinking every year. Pretty soon there will be another face of the last decade to put in. Give Clayborn his due NOW and we'll make it up to Ty next year. Besides a little more humbling for Ty would probably be a good thing.

There should be something to be said that Ray stayed until he was told to go. Both Law and Parcell's followed the dollar and their egos out of town.

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Don't get me wrong, I'll vote for Clayborn and I doubt like hell he gets in. I think we've seen the end of any pre 2001 player getting in. I even wrote most of the major local sportwriters with Antwines credentials, and most, even Reiss, acted like i was asking them to research prehistoric insects. Couldn't care less about the history of the team they cover, especially since they lucked into covering the glory days. At least Clayborn's alive and might make one of those 5 year veteran's deals, probably based on getting sucker punched by McDonough. At least it's name recognition.

Man, Ray Clayborn was a TOUGH SOB...a great corner and a great Patriot. I'd pick him now, Law later on and...uh...Grocery Boy can go in as Jet in their "hall of shame" with his little belt loop biatch, C-Mart at his side.

RayClay said:

Don't get me wrong, I'll vote for Clayborn and I doubt like hell he gets in. I think we've seen the end of any pre 2001 player getting in. I even wrote most of the major local sportwriters with Antwines credentials, and most, even Reiss, acted like i was asking them to research prehistoric insects. Couldn't care less about the history of the team they cover, especially since they lucked into covering the glory days. At least Clayborn's alive and might make one of those 5 year veteran's deals, probably based on getting sucker punched by McDonough. At least it's name recognition.

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Sadly you are probably right Ray. That's one of the reason's these media Pukes loved Parcells so much. He made their jobs just that much easier, while BB makes it harder. That's the media's problem. They think its "all about THEM".

Unfortunately the cross pollenization of the media have left them less interested in uncovering things we'd like to know, and more about finding out who got the most gigs on radio and TV that week. So I guess its up to old timers like us to keep those deserving players like Antwine and Clayborn names alive in the minds of younger Pats fans.

patfanken said:

Sadly you are probably right Ray. That's one of the reason's these media Pukes loved Parcells so much. He made their jobs just that much easier, while BB makes it harder. That's the media's problem. They think its "all about THEM".

Unfortunately the cross pollenization of the media have left them less interested in uncovering things we'd like to know, and more about finding out who got the most gigs on radio and TV that week. So I guess its up to old timers like us to keep those deserving players like Antwine and Clayborn names alive in the minds of younger Pats fans.

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At least Law richly deserves it. Maybe Clayborn has a shot now, before the veterans committee vote (I'll delude myself). Anyway, it's great to be living in the era of excellence. I still believe a lucky bounce here or there and the SBs could be now instead of years ago. Last years team without major injuries would have been great if they showed the heart they did and this years defense could be as good as our best with the strength and depth at DB.

Let's face it, without the Belichick years no one would care if there still was a hall of fame.

i voted for Clayborn

I voted for Clayborn.

1. He clearly makes it on merit. He was a good, often great CB and KR for 12 years. He's on both the all-70's and all-80's Pats teams. He has as much of a post season resume as Patriots of the era can have: he went to one SB. He went to three Pro Bowls. Sure, he got to ride alongside Haynes for part of his career, but Haynes played 6 years for NE and is in; Clayborn played double that.

2. I will ultimately vote for Law, whose candidacy is roughly equivalent, but who has the advantage of better surrounding cast and much better post season experiences; but he's a shoe-in while Clayborn is older and needs some help.

3. I used to love Parcells, he was successful and entertaining, but I can't overlook how he left town and he shouldn't be in because of that.

Law was a better player than Clayborn.
Parcells was a .500 coach who left behind a team with gaping holes in it, after being here only 4 years.
Parcells even being a candidate is a joke.

italian pat patriot said:

i voted for Clayborn

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Hey Pat. I hope the regular fans are as informed as the Patsfans!

I'm with Ray. Wtf did take so long? He was the best CB for the Patriots up until Ty Law came along. He should of been in years ago. So my vote goes to Clayborn because he got shafted although I think Ty Law is the most worthy of the 3.

RayClay said:

Hey Pat. I hope the regular fans are as informed as the Patsfans!

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let's hope RayClay

I fear that Clayborn and Law might split the voting of the majority, leaving Parcells as the recipient of the most votes.